50 MHz rectifier based on an organic diode

A main focus of research on organic semiconductors is their potential application in passive organic radio-frequency identification (RF-ID) tags. First prototypes working at 125 kHz have been shown by industrial research groups. However, to be commercially viable, the organic RF-ID tag would need to be compatible with the base-carrier frequency of 13.56 MHz (ref. 2). High-frequency operation has been out of reach for devices based on organic semiconducting material, because of the intrinsically low mobility of those materials. Here, we report on a rectifier based on a pentacene diode that can rectify an incoming a.c. signal at 50 MHz. At 14 MHz, a rectified voltage of 11 V for an a.c. voltage with a peak-to-peak amplitude of 36 V has been achieved. On the basis of those results, we estimate the frequency limits of an organic diode showing that even the ultra-high-frequency band at around 800 MHz is within reach.